BACKWARD GLANCES - Fastpitch king visits Memorial Field

Thursday

Jun 14, 2012 at 12:01 AMJun 14, 2012 at 1:11 PM

See what was happening in Redwood Falls 50, 25, and 10 years ago this week.

Joshua Dixon, Staff Writer

1962—50 years ago
• When the Falls Theatre showed the movie “I Bombed Pearl Harbor” (starring Toshiro Mifune and a cast of thousands), World War II veterans were allowed in free.
• The Marigold Dairy’s neon sign on South Mill St. started a fire that was noticed by a passing motorist, who alerted the fire department.
• Six local businesses or organizations were in the middle of major remodeling projects: Wilson’s clothing store, Montgomery Ward, J.C. Penny, the VFW and American Legion Halls, and KLGR radio studio.
• Charles Reed, Redwood Falls High School’s first-ever Merit scholar, received his bachelor of arts degree from Harvard University, graduating cum laude.
• Thirty four babies were born, nine people died, 17 marriage licenses were issued, and three divorces were granted in Redwood Falls in May, 1962.
1987—25 years ago
• It took two ballots and three recounts, but underdog Redwood Falls was the winner for the headquarters site for the new Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Southwest Minnesota Synod.
• Work crews finished up the last link of an underground fiber optic line connecting Redwood Falls to Wood Lake, providing better telephone service for everyone along the way.
• Corn crops were significantly higher than usual for mid-June, with heights of 30 inches reported around the region.
• Fastpitch softball legend Eddie Feigner played an exhibition game against a team of Redwood area all-stars at Memorial Field. In a career spanning four decades, Feigner recorded more than 120,000 strike-outs, and 850 no-hitters.
• Two adults were apprehended for stealing the amber flashing lights from a construction barrier over a bridge where the Sleepy Eye Creek was being repaired.
2002—10 years ago
• The old A&W drive-in restaurant was demolished to make way for the new city liquor store.
• The city council considered an ordinance to limit the hours when fireworks could be set off within city limits. Police Chief Mark Dressen said that in the short time since fireworks had been legalized, the department had already faced a number of complaints about fireworks being set off in the middle of the night.
• Carl S. Newman of Tamarac, Florida, won the prize for traveling the longest distance to compete in the Minnesota Inventors Congress.
• Because of an increase in prisoners being brought in high on methamphetamine, the police department bought “The Chair”, a $1,200 chair with leg and arm restraints to prevent prisoners from harming themselves or others.
• Firefighters afraid of heights got a chance to rappel down various Ramsey Park cliffs when the department tested out some new climbing gear donated by Central Bi-Products.